The present invention is related to a method for installing a rotor hub on a rotor shaft of a wind energy plant. In addition, the present invention is related to a wind energy plant. In the construction of wind energy plants, the rotor hub has to be attached on the rotor shaft, which is installed on the plant tower, together with the machine casing of the plant. For this purpose, the rotor hub is set into an installation position with respect to the rotor shaft by means of a crane, with or without installed rotor blades. For reasons of industrial safety, the rotor hub hanging on the crane is not permitted to be entered by operators before its attachment on the rotor shaft. Thus, any attachment of the hub starting from the interior space of the hub is therefore not possible. This leads to difficulties, in particular with cylindrical rotor shafts without a marked flange for the attachment of the hub.
From DE 103 51 524 A1, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference, a rotor bearing for a wind energy plant is known, in which according to one embodiment, the rotor hub is screwed together with a stiffening ring, which is matched into the inner bearing ring of the rotor bearing and which partly surrounds the drive train gear, and with a locking disk arranged between the stiffening ring and the hub. With this screwing, which constitutes the definite attachment of the hub, installation of the hub starting from the nacelle is said to be possible. Admittedly, the construction with an additional stiffening ring is sumptuous. Furthermore, this embodiment is not suited for attaching the rotor hub on cylindrical rotor shafts, in particular on those without a marked flange for the attachment of the hub. Conventional solutions, in which the rotor hub is first screwed together with the machine carrier or the rotor bearing casing, require a sumptuous accurate alignment of the master gauges for the holes of the rotor hub with a corresponding master gauge for the bores in the machine carrier or the rotor bearing casing, respectively. This can be achieved in a safe way only by a sumptuous rotation of the hub shortly before the installation via the sling gears or load reception means.
Starting from the clarified state of the art, the present invention is based on the objective to provide a method as well as a wind energy plant of the kind mentioned in the beginning, wherein the installation of the rotor hub is made possible in a simple and safe manner.